Tip Withering Bug, Anoplocnemis phasiana (Fab.), Halts Grape Shoots: Friend or Foe, Arrival Time Explains

Pruning is a regular practice followed in grapevine, Vitis vinefera L., to keep the vine manageable and productive. However, immediately after pruning, the plants put out a new flush of leaves which attract several leaf-feeding insects, leading to defoliation and crinkling. Incidence of tip withering bug, Anoplocnemis phasiana (Fab.), usually coinciding with the period of halting practice, results in die-back of shoot tip and prevents extension of the shoot, thus halting shoot growth. Intricacies involved in incidence of this coreid bug on grapevine are discussed here

Management of Eulophid Seed Borer, Anselmella kerrichi (Narayanan et al.) (Hymenoptera : Chalcidoidea : Eulophidae) on Jamun

A field experiment was conducted at ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru during 2019 to evaluate certain insecticides and botanicals against jamun seed borer, Anselmella keriichi (Naryananet al.). The results revealed that the seed borer infestation was significantly low in –λ cyhalothrin (4.20%) and cypermethrin (5.77%) treatments followed by spinosad (6.36%), deltamethrin (6.40%) and imidacloprid (6.71%) (F=7.9; df=11; P<0.0001). Among the organic insecticides viz., spinosad @ 0.2 mL/L showed significant reduction in jamun seed borer infestation

Incidence of cetonid beetles, Protaetia alboguttata (Vigors) on karonda, Carissa carandas

Severe infestation of cetonid beetles, Protaetia alboguttata (Vigors) has been noticed on karonda at the experimental station of Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru during the year 2013. The mean damage on the ripe fruits was found to be 22.40+2.50% with a range of 15.00 – 30.00%. Considering the polyphagy of cetoniids, these beetles can pose direct threat to the cultivation of karonda

Plant Traits in Fig as Indicators of Resistance to Shoot Borer, Dyscerus? Fletcheri Marshall (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

A comparative study was conducted on fig (Ficus carica L.) cultivars Deanna and Poona to test whether antixenosis due to plant traits was at least partially responsible for a differential susceptibility to the shoot boring curculionid weevil, Dyscerus? fletcheri. Field evaluation revealed significant difference in borer incidence in cvs. Poona (6.25%) and Deanna (75%). Further, traits of plant architecture such as number of primary/ secondary/ terminal shoots, plant vigour and density of terminal shoots were significantly higher in cv. Deanna, which was highly susceptible to shoot borer. However, latex-flow index was significantly higher in cv. Poona that was resistant to the borer. A step-wise multiple regression analysis revealed that the tested plant traits explained 60% of the total variation in stem borer infestation (y=-0.96-0.02x1+0.23x2-0.03x3+0.24x4+1.28x5-1.31x6, R2=0.60) in the susceptible cultivar, Deanna. Role of these traits in preference/non-preference of D. fletcheri for a cultivar is discussed

Cross infectivity and safety of nuclear polyhedrosis virus, Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki Berliner and Beauveria hassiana (Balsamo) Vuille to pests of groundnut (Arachis hypogea Linn.) and their natural enemies

The nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) of Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) was not cross infective to other groundnut pests tested, viz., Heliothis armigera (Hub.), Aproaerema modicella (Deventer), Empoasca kerri Pruthi and Aphis craccivora Koch. and safer to their predators, viz., Coccinella septumpunctata Linn., Menochilus sexmaculatus Fab. and Chrysoperla carnea (Steph.) and parasitoids Bracon gelichae Ashm. and Tetrastichus sp. tested. Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki Berliner (B.t.) was highly effective against the larvae of lepidopterous pests tested but not against homopteran insects. B.t. was also safe to coccinellid predators and larval parasitoids of A. modicella except for adults of C. carnea. Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuille. was infective to groundnut pests and coccinellid predators tested. Nevertheless, its safety was proved against the larval parasitoids of A. modicell

Rapid isolation of high molecular weight DNA from single dry preserved adult beetle of Cryptolaemus montrouzieri for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification

For studying genetic diversity in populations of predatory coccinellid, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant (Coccinellidae: Coleoptera), our attempts to isolate high quality DNA from individual adult beetle using several previously reported protocols and even modifications were quite unsuccessful as the insect size was small and was preserved at -20°C as dry specimen. Here we describe a simple, rapid and efficient method of isolating high-quality intact genomic DNA with reduced protein contamination for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification from a single, dry preserved specimen of adult Cryptolaemus. The procedure features macerating and mixing the single adult specimen of Cryptoalemus with cationic detergent cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in the homogenization buffer, two chloroform-isoamylalcohol extractions and an alcohol precipitation. RNA contamination was eliminated with RNAse treatment. The purity of DNA was high since the A260/A280 ratio ranged from 1.78 to 1.97. The isolated DNA was used as template for PCR, and the results were evaluated by comparing with different preserved samples.Key words: Rapid isolation, quality DNA, dry preserved specimens, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

Effect of biosynthesized Silver nanoparticles on growth and development of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): Interaction with midgut protease

We investigated the effect of Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the gut protease activity of insecticide resistant gram caterpillar, Helicoverpa armigera. The leaf extracts of Peepal tree, Ficus religiosa (FR) and banyan tree, Ficus benghalensis (FB) mediated biogenic AgNPs were synthesized to modulate the function of gut protease activity in H. armigera (Ha). Bioassay with FR and FB AgNPs significantly reduced both larval weight and survival rate of H. armigera. The FR and FB AgNPs inhibited the Ha-Gut protease activity by 50 and 70% at 100 μg concentration respectively. The FR and FB Silver nanoparticles were interacted and binds with high affinity with protease. The inhibition studies on Ha-gut protease activity may contribute towards developing new IRM (Insecticide Resistant Management) strategies against H. armigera to overcome insecticidal resistance issues

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